Re: jsUnit and the DOM TS

[bc] inline

Dimitris Dimitriadis wrote:


>> How to distinguish the default behavior of a browser from that 
>> provided by plugins which are not exposed as part of the browser's 
>> native document? For example, the DOM support provided by Internet 
>> Explorer's document object is quite distinct from that provided by the 
>> MSXML ActiveX control. This is somewhat similar to the situation with 
>> the Adobe SVG plugin.
>>
> [dd] On this I have no obvious idea, but it will certainly be raised, so 
> we had better deal with it. I think this list's authority on this issue 
> is Curt.

Whatever approach we take should provide support for more browsers than 
just Internet Explorer and Netscape 6/Mozilla.

> 
>> The use of non-proprietary, standards based methods to load test 
>> documents.
>>
>> For example, how can jsUnit's new asynchronous Document loading be 
>> used in the DOM TS? The new version of jsUnit provides a Document 
>> Loader which can load documents into an IFRAME from where they can be 
>> accessed by a test function. This is probably the most cross browser 
>> solution possible since it relies only on basic HTML 4, JavaScript and 
>> DOM 0 support.
>>
>> I think this approach should be the default method of loading test 
>> documents for the ECMAScript based tests, however there are issues 
>> with this approach. For example, Internet Explorer 5 on Windows 
>> transforms a raw XML Document into a DHTML Document when loaded into a 
>> browser document. Is there any way to turn this feature of Internet 
>> Explorer off? This may mean that Internet Explorer will require a 
>> different XML Document loading mechanism for the DOM CORE TS, but 
>> should not preclude supporting other browsers which do not have this 
>> problem. I do not believe this affects Internet Explorer's ability to 
>> load HTML Documents and should not affect the ability of the DOM HTML 
>> TS to use this approach when loading test documents.
>>
> [dd] Robert, first please report to the list how Mozilla behaves under 
> the circustances you mention. Second, coudl the Microsoft representative 
> please provide feedback here? That will bring us one step closer to 
> support in both major browsers.

Mozilla loads the XML Document as is and does not modify it. You can see 
the results in the jsUnit 1.3.0 alpha tests by running the optional 
jsUnitTestLoadStaff.html test which loads the staff.xml document from 
the DOM TS and performs some brain dead tests on it.

Mozilla loads the XML Document into the document of the IFRAME while 
Internet Explorer appears to transform the XML Document into DHTML.

> 
>> Unfortunately, not all browsers support this approach. In particular, 
>> IE 5.1 on Mac OS 9 and OS X do not appear to support this document 
>> loading approach. It remains to be seen whether other browsers support 
>> this approach as well. It is important that jsUnit 1.3.0 alpha be 
>> tested in as many browsers as possible so that we can determine the 
>> best document loading strategy. I encourage everyone to participate in 
>> the testing of jsUnit 1.3.0.
>>
> [dd] I'll run the DOM TS on my machine (OS X, OS 9, both Mac, and Linux 
> for PPC, Debian distribution, where I hope to be able to run it on 
> Konqueror and Mozilla 0.9.9, yesterday's nightly build).

Thanks! I am also trying to recruit testers with as many different 
browsers as possible. Until we all implement the W3C Standards, Cross 
Browser development is a nightmare! :-)

/bc

Received on Monday, 15 April 2002 18:25:04 UTC